Border Security

I want real border security: Granted, Congress passed a $600 million bill to improve border security in 2010. A portion of that went to Arizona. And Terry Goddard got a $94 million settlement from Western Union that was supposed to strengthen the US-Mexico border. The federal government sent additional National Guard troops to support Border Patrol agents. I believe we need a stronger military presence and increased Border Patrol to deter the drug cartels and human smuggling. What would it take to ensure we had enough resources to cover every gap in our 350/400-mile border?

We also need to press for the active enforcement of the Employer Sanctions Act. We have numerous employers statewide that knowingly employ undocumented immigrants. Yet they are ignored while the roundups continue. How many employers have been arrested and prosecuted since the Employer Sanctions Act was passed into law? To my recollection, only one was prosecuted, and then not to the full extent of the law. Why would our lawmakers pass such a law and then say nothing about the lack of enforcement? Why all the outrage over illegal immigration and none about the people who make it possible? Why is there no hue and cry for “illegal means illegal” when it comes to the employers? It’s like a doctor giving the patient pain medicine to treat cancer. The patient may feel better, but the cancer continues to grow.

If our law enforcers aggressively investigated and arrested the illegal employers, we might actually have more jobs for Arizonans once illegal employers realize that it is safer to hire workers legally than it is to continue employing — and underpaying — undocumented immigrants.

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Meet Pat

Pat
I am an Army veteran, business leader, wife, mother, and grandmother. I am not someone who has been elected to a political office, but I am not willing to sit idly by while our local politics spin out of control. This is not just for me or you. Its for the collective us. Please volunteer today and help us pave a better future for Arizona together.